when we feel a storm
by myhomeistheshire
Summary: A job goes wrong, and Neil is caught in the crossfire. (Part 3 of the leverage AU.)


Aurora worries about Tom and Neil. They switch back and forth like lighting; one day thick as thieves, and the next at each other's throats.

It reaches a climax one day after a particularly taxing job, where Tom slips up and Neil is forced to shoot a guard to cover for him.

"I'm _sorry,_ alright?" Tom's voice is terse, his fists clenched.

"You know, one of these days you'll realize that _sorry_ doesn't always cut it." Neil fires back. "You got someone killed today, you fucking half-wit, and you didn't even think twice about it!"

" _I_ got someone killed?" Something vicious is in his tone - cruel and angry and destructive. "I'm not the one who pulled the trigger, if I remember correctly."

Neil's eyes flash, and he takes a step toward the other man. "You think I wanted to shoot him? You think I wanted to have to take a life to cover your bloody misstep? It's _your_ fault that man is dead, and it's so fucking _typical_ of you to blame that on someone else, you coward -"

"Yeah, because not having a body list a mile long makes me a coward, right? Well then, you must just be a fucking _hero_ -"

Neil lunges out with a fist that connects with the side of Tom's face with a sickening _crack,_ and then they're both shouting and swinging and Harry's trying to get in between them and everything's happening at once -

"ENOUGH."

Aurora's voice cuts through the noise, freezing everyone in their tracks. She hasn't raised her voice before, not once, and everyone is holding their breath like the air around them might shatter if they don't.

"Look at yourselves." She hisses, throwing an arm out to gesture at the others. _"Look_ at you! You are fighting like _children._ Think about what you're doing to the people around you, for _once_ in your _lives!"_

Alfred is frozen in the corner; Harry is crumpled up on the floor, shaking. Both have a strange sort of terror in their eyes.

Neil and Tom simultaneously duck their heads toward the ground.

"Now, I don't care what you do in your free time." Aurora continues in a dangerously low voice. "But when you are in this house, around these people, what you do affects the team. So if you have problems, sort them out elsewhere, or learn to live with them. Am I understood?"

"Yes." Neil replies, and Tom just nods.

"Tom?"

"Yes." He clears his throat.

* * *

They don't talk for a full two weeks except when strictly necessary, and it gets on everyone's nerves - especially Aurora's, when they're on a job.

"Tom, take Blecher to the meet. Neil, you're going to be the buyer - keep an eye out for whatever men he might be bringing. Alfred, break into Blecher's office, and Harry, you can head back to the flat and get dinner ready." They've been working on this job for a week, and if all goes well they'll be finished it by the afternoon.

"But -"

"You've done your part." Aurora says firmly, cutting off Harry's protests. "It's an easy job, and we'll be back by seven at the latest, alright?" She lifts a hand to stroke his hair, and Harry nods.

"Everyone's clear?"

There are various murmurs of assent, and they split off to their respective duties. Aurora's job now is mainly supervisory; keep an eye on everything from a distance, make sure nothing goes wrong. She settles onto a bench with a newspaper across the road from the meeting spot, watching out of the corner of her eye.

Tom and Blecher show up a little over a quarter of an hour later, and Neil arrives no more than a minute after. They shake hands, trade briefcases -

And then shots ring out through the air.

Neil and Tom both hit the ground, and instinct drives Aurora to jump to her feet. She can't run across the street - to do so would compromise the job entirely, and possibly get them all killed. So instead she forces herself to duck into an alley and watch the chaos from a distance. She doesn't know what went wrong, what contingency she didn't plan for - maybe Blecher has other enemies. Maybe someone else wanted in on the buy. Whatever it is, she should have seen it coming. This is on her.

People are screaming and dashing for cover as more gunshots echo around the street. Aurora can see Tom crouched behind a cart, shouting something. She focuses on his lips, tunes out her surroundings -

 _Neil._

He's shouting 'Neil'.

To hell with the job and with the gunshots and the chaos. Aurora dashes across the street, ducking and darting. She has to stop and slip into a doorway for a few seconds, and when she comes out it takes a second to spot them. Tom is kneeling over Neil, who's gushing blood from his stomach and looks terrifyingly still. Aurora's field training comes sweeping back, _apply pressure dress the wound don't remove the object_ , except she can't do anything until the shooting stops, so instead of rushing over, she grabs the pistol from her waistband and she heads back across the street.

By the time she locates the rooftop the shooter was positioned on, all that's left are a few shell casings scattered around the area.

"God _damm_ it!" She curses, clenching her fists. But she doesn't have time to be angry, Neil's still down there, so instead she slips a few of the shell casings into her pocket and the gun back into her waistband and she darts back down to the street.

Tom's still beside Neil, and now there's a woman kneeling beside him as well.

"- Need to keep him still." The woman is saying as Aurora approaches.

"Get away from him." She snaps, and the woman looks up at her.

"I'm a nurse." The woman replies without hesitation. "And if I don't help him, your friend is going to die."

Aurora hesitates, stuck between keeping a low profile and trusting a complete stranger. It only takes one look at Tom's face to convince her.

"Tell me what you need."

* * *

It takes forever. An eternity of waiting, of not knowing if he's just going to stop breathing, if suddenly he'll be gone. The nurse, Siobhan, does the best she can, but when she tells Tom to get someone who can bring them to the hospital, Aurora stops him.

"We have a place set up, there's plenty of medical supplies. We can make it worth your while if you come with us."

The nurse looks between their faces warily. "As a general rule," she says slowly, "I don't like to take up with criminals."

"We're not criminals." Aurora lies smoothly, but Siobhan doesn't look convinced.

"Please." Tom cuts in, his voice breaking. "We - please."

The nurse looks down at Neil, and then up at Tom again. "Alright then." She agrees in a matter-of-fact voice. "Tell me how we're going to get there."

They make it back to the flat, where Harry drops a pot on the floor and rushes over to them without a second glance at the spilled food. He waits while they move Neil to Aurora's room, until he's finally stable enough for Aurora to breathe.

"I can't guarantee anything," Siobhan says, "but he's a fighter. I think he'll pull through."

* * *

Aurora wakes up much later, bleary and disoriented and uncertain as to when she fell asleep. She's lying on the couch with a blanket tucked over her, which she imagines was probably Alfred's doing.

The clock on the mantle reads two o'clock in the morning, and Aurora pushes herself up to a sitting position, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She hears soft voices, and turns to see Harry and Siobhan sitting on the floor in the kitchen, laughing quietly over a game of chess. She slips out before they notice her, and walks over to the bedroom.

Neil's body is still unnervingly still, and Aurora can't keep her eyes off the bandage on his stomach, but his breathing is even and his face is starting to look less deathly pale. _He'll make it_ , Aurora allows herself to think.

Tom, curled up in the chair beside the bed, jerks awake at her footsteps.

"'s Neil okay?" He mumbles, peeling his eyes open.

"Shh, Neil's going to be fine." Aurora whispers, leaning against the door frame. "You've been in here for a while. Do you want to take the couch?"

Tom shakes his head. "I want to be here when he wakes up." He says, and even through his tired muttering Aurora can tell he won't budge.

She slips back out to the living room, where Alfred is sitting up, waiting for her.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asks, and she shakes her head as she folds into the couch next to him.

"Nightmares. You?"

"Just - worries." His fingers are clasped tightly together, and on a whim Aurora reaches out and takes his hand.

"He's going to make it." She says, and Alfred just looks over at her with a stare that reflects everything she's feeling. "He has to."

Alfred squeezes her hand. "I know."

They fall asleep hours later, and when they wake up it's to Harry's triumphant cheering at Siobhan's pronouncement that Neil is going to be alright.


End file.
